Introduction to Dental Anatomy

Dental Anatomy & Occlusion Dent 202

Introduction
Human dentition is diphyodont
2 sets of dentitions
Primary/deciduous
20 teeth in total Incisors/canines/molars Smaller size

Secondary/permanent
32 teeth in total Incisors/canines/premolars/molars Bigger size

Deciduous & permanent dentitions

Why do we have to have 2 sets of teeth?

Why 2 sets of dentitions?

The jaws have to accommodate the increased number of permanent teeth and their bigger size

Dental formula
I for incisors C for Canines PM for premolars M for molars Deciduous teeth are indicated by the letter D before the initial

Human dental formula

Deciduous teeth
DI 2/2 DC 1/1 DM 2/2 = 10

Permanent teeth
I 2/2 C 1/1 PM 2/2 M 3/3 = 16
The numbers following the letter refer to the number of teeth of each type in the upper then the lower dentition for one side only

Quadrants
ToothTooth-bearing region of the jaw can be divided into 4 quadrants
Right maxillary (1 or 5) Left maxillary (2 or 6) Left mandibular (3 or 7) Right mandibular (4 or 8)
Quadrants in permanent dentition have the numbers 1 4 and in deciduous have the numbers 5 - 8

Quadrants
1 or 5 2 or 6

4 or 8

3 or 7

Teeth order
Each tooth in a quadrant takes a letter (A E for deciduous) or a number (1 8 for permanent) indicating its order when counting from the midline
EDCBA EDCBA ABCDE ABCDE 87654321 87654321 12345678 12345678

Dental nomenclature
By words
Set
Deciduous or permanent

Jaw
Maxillary or mandibular

Class
Incisor/canine/premolar/molar

Order within a class

Central or lateral First/second/third

Side
Right or left

By numbers, letters and/or symbols

Palmer notation system Universal numbering system FDI numbering system

Palmer/Zsigmondy notation system

American Dental Association in 1947 Tooth is represented by a number 1 8 (permanent) or a letter A E (deciduous) Two lines; indicates which quadrant the tooth belongs to
a horizontal representing the occlusal plane and a vertical representing the midline

Examples:

Maxillary right central incisor 1 Mandibular left second deciduous molar E

EDCBA EDCBA

ABCDE ABCDE

87654321 87654321

12345678 12345678

Universal numbering system

Palmer difficulty in keyboard typing ADA adopted the universal system in 1968 Uppercase letters for deciduous teeth
Consecutive from A to T Following a clockwise order from maxillary right second molar to mandibular right second molar

Numbers for permanent teeth

Consecutive from 1 to 32 Following a clockwise order from maxillary right third molar to mandibular right third molar
ABCDE TSRQP FGHI J ONMLK
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17

FDI numbering system

Proposed by FDI & adopted by WHO Each tooth is allocated a two-digit number; the twoleft designates the quadrant and the right designates the tooth order Examples
Mandibular right permanent canine 43 Maxillary left deciduous lateral incisor 62
55 54 53 52 51 61 62 63 64 65 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

85 84 83 82 81

71 72 73 74 75

48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41

31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38